Each team’s biggest need heading into the 2018 NHL draft
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins – Right wing
The Bruins actually don’t have a lot of needs in the draft right now, and that’s been the result of a superb last couple drafts. All teams looking to get younger should take notes on what the Bruins have done the last couple years by staying competitive while accumulating young talent in the draft.
Boston has found some late round scores in the past few drafts at every position, and the youth movement on the roster and in the system is pretty much set for the time being. They could go the next three drafts without getting a center and still be set with young talent, and it’s the same story on defense. But obviously it’s not perfect and the Bruins still have a bit of a need on the right wing. Since finding an elite right winger in David Pastrnak in 2014, Boston hasn’t payed much mind to the right wing with only one more winger picked since Pastrnak. Zach Senyshyn is in the system, but once he’s gone there won’t be any options left.
The Bruins traded away their first round pick in exchange for Rick Nash at the trade deadline, and are left without a pick for the third time since 2000 and first time since 2013. They don’t need to trade back up to get a first round pick with how much youth they’ve accumulated over the years, and they’ve still got options in the second round at 57th overall, most notably Nando Eggenberger.
Buffalo Sabres – Defense/Rasmus Dahlin
This isn’t a debate. Buffalo needs to take Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick and nobody else. They’ve waited for the chance to get another player along with Jack Eichel that can turn this franchise around, and Dahlin is the perfect man for the job.
Buffalo finished last in the league and won the NHL draft lottery to get the first overall pick after years of tanking, and Rasmus Dahlin is meant to be the big payoff of all of Buffalo’s patience. In 2015, the Sabres finished last but did not win the Connor McDavid lottery, so instead hey picked second overall and selected Jack Eichel to be their next superstar of the future. Eichel is panning out almost exactly as they’ve hoped, but they just haven’t been able to break out of the basement of the league.
Rasmus Dahlin is being projected at this time to be a franchise defenseman that the Sabres could build their entire organization around, and could finally be the one to end this ridiculously long re-building process for the Sabres. Having him along with Eichel, Casey Midelstadt, Alex Nylander and Rasmus Ristolainen could finally be what the Sabres have been longing for. This long rebuild might finally be coming to an end.
Detroit Red Wings – Left wing
It was another lowly year in what is shaking out to be a long and painful rebuilding process for the Detroit Red Wings. With so many albatross contracts on one team, the only way they can hope for success anytime soon is through young, cheap talent found only in the draft.
The argument can be made that the Red Wings need every position right now, and that’s not wrong, but when you’re in a spot like the Red Wings are in, they need a balanced prospect pool across the board. Defense has slowly been built up, center looks strong, and they’re ready to graduate some players on the right wing. Detroit has neglected drafting on the left wing in the last few years, and don’t have much outside Givani Smith and Dylan Sadowy to upgrade on perhaps the worst left wing depth in the league. No left wing drafted by the Red Wings since 2010 has made the team since Tyler Bertuzzi.
The Red Wings pick sixth overall in this years entry draft and that’ll give them a tough decision to make on whether to pick by need or best player available. The sixth overall pick is supposed to be right at the beginning of the rush for defensemen, and the Red Wings will likely have their choice Boqvist, Bouchard, Hughes and Dobson. Joel Farabee is the next left winger available, but if they want to pass over player to pick him, they should trade down and take advantage of how desperate teams are for young defensemen.
Florida Panthers – Defense
Florida was ever so close to making the playoffs last season but just missed out by a single point in the final days of the season. The future looks bright the long struggling Panthers franchise however with their skilled youth ready to make the jump to the NHL, and they could make another playoff push with the added depth. Hopefully this is their final year having a top 15 pick for a while, but they still have to take advantage of it while they have it.
The Panthers have drafted pretty balanced over the last few drafts, so they don’t have any desperate needs like most teams but they do need bolstering in some areas, defense primarily. You can look at their defensive prospect pool and not see the problem, but it’s there. All defenseman worth noting play on the left side and shoot lefty, there’s almost no right handed players.
Florida owns the 15th overall pick in the draft, and this could bode perfectly for them if Bode Wilde drops a spot or two from his projection down to 15th. Wilde is a right-handed defenseman who would fit well with the Panthers system, but they’re gonna need a do a lot of praying to get their hands on him, especially with the next right handed defenseman being Ryan Merkley several spots down. They could get him if their inclined, but it wouldn’t be worth it at 15th overall and they’d likely need to trade down.
Montreal Canadiens – Wing/Svechnikov/Zadina
After a brutal season, the Montreal Canadiens were rewarded for their misfortune with moving up one spot in this years draft from fourth to third overall, and if they have common sense their decision should be pretty simple.
Montreal’s draft choice depends entirely on what Carolina does with the second overall pick, which was discussed already. Once Dahlin is gone, it’s down to potential superstar wingers Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina. Both have been projected to have incredible upsides that teams could build rosters around, should a team be lucky enough to land one of them.
There’s been talk circulating that Montreal could pass over whoever is leftover of Svechnikov and Zadina in favor of a defenseman or center, but that would be passing on an elite talent at a position they are the most weak at on an organizational level. Montreal does need a center on the roster, but they have those prospects already in the system with players like Ryan Poehling and Will Bitten. The Canadiens have no organizational depth on the wings, and they’re getting a chance to fill that need with a potetnial star. Between Svechnikov and Zadina, they don’t get a say in the matter, but Zadina dropping to them fills the more dire need at left wing.
Ottawa Senators – Right wing
It was an absolutely brutal season for the Ottawa Senators just a year removed from being one goal away from the Stanley Cup Finals. They didn’t just regress, they fell off the face of the earth and finished third worst in the entire league. The trade rumors have been unrelenting, and tension between fans and ownership are at all time high. A good draft would be a start to mending those relations.
Ottawa has had some recent good drafts, but they still have a lot of work to do to properly overhaul the team. The future at center and defense is set for a while, but it’s on the wings where they need more prospect depth. Outside of Gabriel Gange, there isn’t any options to replace anyone on the roster when they start to inevitably trade some of the roster out.
Ottawa owns the fourth overall pick and the Penguins 22nd overall pick. At both spots they’ve got options for potentially lethal right wingers, mainly in Oliver Wahlstrom. However there has been talk out of Montreal that they could pass on Svechnikov or Zadina in favor of a center, and if that happens Ottawa shouldn’t think twice about taking advantage of that fortune.
Tampa Bay Lightning – Defense
The Lightning don’t have a first round pick in this years draft, but they really don’t need one. Tampa Bay has been sensational at drafting in recent years, and as a result their prospect cupboard is almost overflowing. In every position, the Lightning have a prospect in the system that can become a consistent NHL player with high upside.
If you had to nitpick and find a spot that the Lightning might need at this years draft, the defensive organizational depth could be improved, particularly on the left side. They certainly have great defensive prospects, but all of them play of the right side. Granted that’s where the roster needs an injection of youth the most besides Sergachev, but Anton Stralman and Braydon Coburn on the left side won’t have any replacements after their contracts expire next season.
The Lightning traded away their first round pick to the New York Rangers as a part of the Ryan McDonagh trade at the trade deadline, but at the end of the day they don’t need a first round pick with how much they already have. Their first pick comes at 59th overall at the end of the second round, which could line up perfectly with left handed defender Alexander Romanov, a talented Russian who is projected to be a steal at around 60th overall.
Toronto Maple Leafs – Center
Believe it or not, a team as young as the Maple Leafs still has some work to do at the draft this year. The youth movement is in full swing with Auston Matthews at the front of it all and they were so close to taking that next step in the playoffs against Boston but the pieces just weren’t completely in place yet, but now they can take the steps to get those pieces at the draft.
Toronto doesn’t really need to think what much about what they need, they have a gaping hole at center on both the main roster and in their otherwise stacked prospect system. Matthews and Kadri are the only two centers remaining on the Leafs roster with the likely departures of Bozak and Plecanek, and they don’t have any long term replacements available outside of some un-drafted free agent signings.
Toronto will select 25th overall in this year’s draft, and they’ll have the chance to take their pick at any of the late first round projected centers if they feel inclined to go for one. Ryan McLeod and Ty Dellandrea are likely the top available center options at that point of the draft, both of whom are excellent skaters and playmakers, but Dellandrea sounds as though he would fit the Maple Leafs style better with his speed and passing skill.